Georgia's close call vs. Kentucky should no longer be seen as a fluke for Wildcats

Not that this really matters because Georgia still has to play at Alabama this week, but maybe, just maybe, we gave Dawgs too much of a wag of the finger for being pushed to the brink by Kentucky two weeks ago. The Wildcats bounced back after their second loss of the season by handling Ohio last week, and then upsetting Ole Miss in Oxford during Homecoming. Kentucky is so dangerous.

The Wildcats defense, the same one that held Georgia to 13 points held what was previously the best offense in college football to only 17. The front-seven had Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart all out of sorts throughout the game. The key difference in Kentucky getting the upset over Ole Miss vs. losing to Georgia yet again was the Dawgs brought the lumber defensively too, while Ole Miss sort of did...

At the start of the year, I projected Kentucky to go somewhere around 7-5. I did forecast a win over South Carolina which they unfortunately dropped before the UGA game, but how could you have foreseen the 'Cats upsetting Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway? They are still on track to hit that market. Drawing Tennessee and Texas aren't great, but the rest of their remaining schedule is rather winnable.

As for Georgia, the Dawgs still have to play the four hardest teams left on their schedule this season.

Kentucky shows Georgia near upset was no fluke after Ole Miss stunner

What I have liked about this year's Kentucky team is the Wildcats seem to have a strong identity of who they are. They will win games because of the punishing defense and well-coached special teams play. To me, I think it gives players like Brock Vandagriff on offense a ton of confidence to go out there and make something happen. Ole Miss has a good defense too, but Georgia may have college's best.

A win like this takes any notion of putting Stoops on the hot seat completely off the table. In fact, what a win like this does is helps him win more in recruitment, as well as go back to the negotiating table and ask for more more from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. However, nobody is going to sleep on Kentucky the rest of the way. They beat a top-10 team and nearly beat a second over three weeks.

As for Georgia, the Dawgs have to take it one week at a time. There are no easy Saturdays on the schedule for them in SEC play this year. In addition to Alabama, Georgia still has to play Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas. All four of those opponents are either College Football Playoff locks, or will be playing for one of the last few spots in. Ole Miss is behind the eight-ball, but still has to play Georgia.

What Saturday has shown us so far is you can never take a conference opponent lightly even once.